Murder in Thrall

First-year detective Kathleen Doyle is a plucky Irish redhead of humble origins and modest means. Chief Inspector Michael Acton is her antithesis: a British lord turned cop. He's tall, handsome, and enigmatic - to a fault. He also has a knack for solving London's most high-profile crimes. Acton selects Doyle out of the newbie squad to partner with him on a series of investigations because she always knows when someone is lying - a trait that comes in handy when interviewing suspects and witnesses.

A Test of Wills

Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome. A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge goes to investigate.

Still Life: Chief Inspector Gamache, Book 1

Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Surêté du Québec and his team of investigators are called in to the scene of a suspicious death in a rural village south of Montreal. Jane Neal, a local fixture in the tiny hamlet of Three Pines, just north of the U.S. border, has been found dead in the woods. The locals are certain it’s a tragic hunting accident and nothing more, but Gamache smells something foul in these remote woods, and is soon certain that Jane Neal died at the hands of someone much more sinister than a careless bowhunter.

Wicked Autumn: A Max Tudor Novel

Max Tudor has adapted well to his post as vicar of St. Edwold's in the idyllic village of Nether Monkslip. The quiet village seems the perfect home for Max, who has fled a harrowing past as an MI5 agent. But this new-found serenity is quickly shattered when the highly vocal and unpopular president of the Women's Institute turns up dead at the Harvest Fayre. The death looks like an accident, but Max's training as a former agent kicks in, and before long he suspects foul play.

Some Danger Involved: Barker & Llewelyn Series, Book 1

An atmospheric debut novel set on the gritty streets of Victorian London, Some Danger Involved introduces detective Cyrus Barker and his assistant, Thomas Llewelyn, as they work to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar in London's Jewish ghetto. When the eccentric and enigmatic Barker takes the case, he must hire an assistant, and out of all who answer an ad for a position with "some danger involved", he chooses downtrodden Llewelyn, a gutsy young man with a murky past.

What Angels Fear: Sebastian St. Cyr, Book 1

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George III's England. Then a beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey. A dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man - Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, a brilliant young nobleman shattered by his experience in the Napoleonic Wars.

Maisie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs isn't just any young housemaid. Through her own natural intelligence - and the patronage of her benevolent employers - she works her way into college at Cambridge. After the War I and her service as a nurse, Maisie hangs out her shingle back at home: M. DOBBS, TRADE AND PERSONAL INVESTIGATIONS. But her very first assignment soon reveals a much deeper, darker web of secrets, which will force Maisie to revisit the horrors of the Great War and the love she left behind.

The Cater Street Hangman

When a maid in the upper class Ellison household is strangled, Inspector Pitt is called in to investigate. He finds a world ruled by strict manners and social customs, where the inhabitants of the Ellison's neighborhood appear to be more outraged by the thought of scandal than they are by murder. Inspector Pitt finds a most unlikely ally in Charlotte, the Ellison's spirited daughter. But as the murders continue, Charlotte and Pitt find themselves drawn together by more than the investigation.

A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia: A Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventure, Book 1

It's 1929, and Ticky Maltravers is the toast of London high society, adored by everyone - or so it seems, until somebody poisons him over dinner. Now it turns out that numerous people with secrets to hide had every reason to wish him dead. But which of them murdered him? For Freddy Pilkington-Soames, newspaper reporter and man-about-town, the question hits a little too close to home.

The Strangler Vine

India, 1837: William Avery is a young soldier with few prospects except rotting away in campaigns in India; Jeremiah Blake is a secret political agent gone native, a genius at languages and disguises, disenchanted with the whole ethos of British rule, but who cannot resist the challenge of an unresolved mystery.

The Crossing Places

When she's not digging up bones or other ancient objects, Ruth Galloway lectures at the University of North Norfolk. She lives happily alone in a remote place called Saltmarsh overlooking the North Sea and, for company; she has her cats Flint and Sparky, and Radio 4. When a child's bones are found in the marshes near an ancient site that Ruth worked on ten years earlier, Ruth is asked to date them.

Murder of a Lady

Duchlan Castle is a gloomy place in the Scottish Highlands. Late one night the body of Mary Gregor, sister of the laird, is found in the castle. She has been stabbed to death in her locked bedroom. The only tiny clue to the culprit is a silver fish's scale, left on the floor next to Mary's body. Inspector Dundas is dispatched to investigate. The Gregor family and their servants are quick to explain that Mary was a kind and charitable woman, but Dundas uncovers a more complex truth.

Murder on Black Swan Lane

The Earl of Wrexford possesses a brilliant scientific mind, but boredom and pride lead him to reckless behavior. He does not suffer fools gladly. So when pompous, pious Reverend Josiah Holworthy publicly condemns him for debauchery, Wrexford unsheathes his rapier-sharp wit and strikes back. As their war of words escalates, London's most popular satirical cartoonist, A. J. Quill, skewers them both.

The Last Detective

A woman's naked body is found floating in the weeds of a lake near Bath by an elderly woman walking her Siamese cats. No one comes forward to identify her, and no murder weapon is found, but sleuthing is Superintendent Peter Diamond's speciality. A genuine gumshoe, practising door stopping and deduction: he is the last detective. Struggling with office politics and a bizarre cast of suspects, Diamond strikes out on his own, even when Forensics think they have the culprit.

A Dark So Deadly

Welcome to the Misfit Mob... It's where Police Scotland dumps the officers it can't get rid of but wants to: the outcasts, the troublemakers, the compromised. Officers like DC Callum MacGregor, lumbered with all the boring go-nowhere cases. So when an ancient mummy turns up at the Oldcastle tip, it's his job to find out which museum it's been stolen from. But then Callum uncovers links between his ancient corpse and three missing young men, and life starts to get a lot more interesting.

The Templars' Last Secret

When a woman's body is found at the foot of a cliff near St. Denis, Bruno suspects a connection to the great ruin that stands on the cliff above: the Chateau de Commarque, a long-ago Knights Templar stronghold that, along with the labyrinth of prehistoric caves beneath it, continues to draw the interest of scholars. With the help of Amelie, a young newcomer to the Dordogne, Bruno learns that the dead woman was an archaeologist searching for a religious artifact of incredible importance.

A Useful Woman: A Rosalind Thorne Mystery, Book 1

The daughter of a baronet and minor heiress, Rosalind Thorne was nearly ruined after her father abandoned the family. To survive in the only world she knew, she began to manage the affairs of some of London society's most influential women, who rely on her wit and discretion. So when artistocratic wastrel Jasper Aimesworth is found dead in London's most exclusive ballroom, Almack's, Rosalind must use her skills and connections to uncover the killer.

Too Happy says:"I was looking for an entertaining read. I found that, and more."

In Farleigh Field: A Novel

World War II comes to Farleigh Place, the ancestral home of Lord Westerham and his five daughters, when a soldier with a failed parachute falls to his death on the estate. After his uniform and possessions raise suspicions, MI5 operative and family friend Ben Cresswell is covertly tasked with determining if the man is a German spy. The assignment also offers Ben the chance to be near Lord Westerham's middle daughter, Pamela, whom he furtively loves. But Pamela has her own secret.

A Man of Some Repute: A Very English Mystery, Book 1

Selchester Castle in 1953 sits quiet and near-empty, its corridors echoing with glories of the past. Or so it seems to intelligence officer Hugo Hawksworth, wounded on a secret mission and now reluctantly assuming an altogether less perilous role at Selchester.

Cherringham - A Cosy Crime Series Compilation (Cherringham 1 - 3)

Jack's a retired ex-cop from New York, seeking the simple life in Cherringham. Sarah's a Web designer who's moved back to the village find herself. But their lives are anything but quiet as the two team up to solve Cherringham's criminal mysteries. This compilation contains episodes 1 - 3: MURDER ON THAMES, MYSTERY AT THE MANOR and MURDER BY MOONLIGHT.

Magpie Murders: A Novel

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway's latest novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others. After working with the best-selling crime writer for years, she's intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries disturbing sleepy English villages. An homage to queens of classic British crime such as Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, Alan's traditional formula has proved hugely successful.

The Lion's Courtship: Anna Kronberg , Book 0.5

London, 1885. Anna Kronberg hides in the city's most notorious slum, offering medical treatment to prostitutes, beggars, and criminals of all kinds. None of her neighbors knows her true identity, and she makes sure it stays that way. When the Irish thief Garret O'Hare breaks into her home in the dead of the night, bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound and collapsing on her bed, her life begins to take a deadly turn.

Masked Ball at Broxley Manor: A Royal Spyness Novella

At the end of her first unsuccessful season out in society, Lady Georgiana has all but given up on attracting a suitable man - until she receives an invitation to a masked Halloween ball at Broxley Manor. Georgie is uncertain why she was invited, until she learns that the royal family intends to marry her off to a foreign prince, one reputed to be mad.

A Quiet Life in the Country: A Lady Hardcastle Mystery, Book 1

Lady Emily Hardcastle is an eccentric widow with a secret past. Florence Armstrong, her maid and confidante, is an expert in martial arts. The year is 1908 and they've just moved from London to the country, hoping for a quiet life. But it is not long before Lady Hardcastle is forced out of her self-imposed retirement. There's a dead body in the woods, and the police are on the wrong scent. Lady Hardcastle makes some enquiries of her own, and it seems she knows a surprising amount about crime investigation...

Publisher's Summary

In 1921, the bloodied bodies of Colonel Fletcher, his wife and two staff are found in a manor house in Surrey. The police have put the murders down to a violent robbery, but Detective Inspector Madden from Scotland Yard has his own suspicions. In the meantime the killer is plotting his second strike.

Mysteries written in the 20s or 30s -- or set in the 20s or 30s -- are some of my favorites. Rennie Airth has written a wonderful story, evocative of post WWI era, but introducing modern elements, like a serial killer with psychological problems. The characters are well-drawn, the plot keeps you interested, and a little love story is thrown in for added enjoyment. Christopher Kay does an excellent job narrating, making vaious regional British accents sound believable (at least to an American!) and still making them understandable.

This book kept me up all night listening. While seemingly a story of gratuitous murder, River of Darkness also explores the theme of how a person's psyche long after a war is over. War, in fact, is never over for some. Airth skillfully weaves together a police investigation, a love story, and a killer's narrative. I highly recommend this book. The narrator was excellent and his regional accents sounded authentic, at least to my untrained ear.

River of Darkness exceeded my expectations. I thought I was buying a detective yarn, where a brilliant detective would be paired against a wily and diabolical killer, chasing clue after clue until finally piecing together the mystery. And make no mistake, those elements are strong throughout the book, but at the same time, RoD offers quite a bit more.

Like all the best stories, this is really about living people, not murders. This is somewhat ironic, given that when we first meet him, the protagonist is a man in many respects already dead. Set just a few years after WWI, the echoes of that terrible conflict are still very much present in the world of "River." It seems to stain combatants and non-combatants alike, men and women both.

Despite the grisly subject matter and the sense of ennui that seems to surround so many of the characters when we first meet them, this is ultimately a positive, redemptive book.

Absolutely yes! I would recommend it for anyone who loves mysteries, complex characters, and a powerful story.

What other book might you compare River of Darkness to and why?

I love mysteries and suspenseful books like Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Charles Todd, and Louise Penny, but have read all of those. This was an amazing find and I wish there were more in Airth's series!

What about Christopher Kay’s performance did you like?

I thought it was varied and that he captured a great range of emotion throughout the book, especially for some of the darker moments.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I broke it up since I'm in grad school but it became harder and harder to turn it off!!

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful mystery and anyone who likes Agatha Christie, Charles Todd, or Louise Penny will love this new series and the depth of these captivating characters. I also hope that Audible makes the 2nd and 3rd books in the series quickly, since only the 1st and 4th have been recorded so far!

A nice if formulaic historical serial killer mystery. Unlike many mysteries, the question isn't whodunnit, but rather when will he be caught and why does he do it? It's an interesting enough premise that suffers a bit with the length of the novel. The perspective shifts between characters occasionally at chapter breaks which was a bit disorienting to listen to. However, the narrator has a pleasantly dry British reading that made it easy to let the story ramble on. Perhaps one of the more unnecessary plot aspects is a tacked on romance between one of the main characters and the village doctor. Not enough time is given to the relationship to let it develop enough that I felt invested. The doctor, while an important character early in the novel, fades out of the plot in the second and third parts, which further derails the attempt at a romantic subplot.

That being said, I did enjoy the book and am interested in reading more of the authors work.

Ronnie Airth. is such a good story teller. the character development is so complete for me and combined with Christopher Key as narrator. makes this one I listen too. over and over. traveling so much for work. this is lime my bed time story.

I would recommend this audio. I wish Mr Airth had his other books in audio format. with Mr Key.

This story is first class and should be rated as one of the best thrillers ever produced. I am a walker and listen to the storys as I walk, but I found myself rooted to the ground due to the sheer suspense, this book had you twisting from one spot to another. For the first time in the whole of my life (and I am no chicken), I found tears in my eyes. Its a book you will never forget and that is what a good book should do.I must make a mention of the reader he is so good that you think you are there with him, and the many characters are treated to their own accents.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Elizabeth Davies

4/22/11

Overall

"Easy"

This is an 'easy' listen. For me, there was no 'rewinding'; the story flowed easily and the characters were memorable. I enjoyed the historical setting and the reading. Good, good.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Roberta

Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, United Kingdom

11/16/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Evocative and Spellbinding"

Wonderfully engrossing tale remininscent of Barbara Cleverly's atmospheric crime stories expertly narrated by Christopher Kay. So moving a memoir of the terrible loss to humanity of the generation of first world war victims of that madness in an entirely accessible account from a small scale perspective. Beautifully written. I can't wait to read more from this talented author. Thank you.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

David

Thornhill, United Kingdom

9/24/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Odd sort of Aberdonian"

Although the 'main' murders occur pretty near the beginning of the story, the book somehow takes a very long time after that to introduce everyone and longer still to develop their characters. It was well over half way through before I began to care much about any of the characters, or be overly interested in what happened to them, though I'd have to say that the final third of the book is pretty good.

But that narrator (Christopher Kay)! One of the principal characters is described as coming from Aberdeen. The accent chosen for him was more appropriate to Morningside. To non-Scots, this may seem a rather pedantic observation, but imagine, for example, a character being described as Cornish or Cumbrian and yet being given a Cockney accent. (Apologies, Morningsiders, not suggesting that select part of Edinburgh is at all like the East End of London; just that the accents are VERY different, and impact upon one's perception of character). Other accents - 'general West Country', Brummie, Liverpudlian and Cockney itself seem to have been attempted for other characters from time to time; none of them very successfully. General story telling, also, not really up to the standard of many others available. There seems to be a version with another narrator available; perhaps better to try that one.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Zed Bay

3/20/17

Overall

Performance

Story

"Disappointing"

I bought this on the strength of other highly positive reviews. Sadly I was not gripped by this book at all. My husband thought it might make a better film than book. The characters were numerous but flimsy and somewhat stereotyped, the sex was exceptionally explicit in a what-bit-goes-where Sex for Dummies kind of way. The final denouement, after you think the story is wrapped up, was quite exciting, but very bloody and violent. Just not a very crisp, tightly structured or intriguing book. I never really cared enough about what might happen next.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

MAGGS

Port Talbot

11/9/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"River of Darkness - good old fashioned classic detective read"

River of Darkness - good old fashioned classic detective read Narrator Christopher Kay would have got 4 stars but detective madden seemed to pronounced madam. Good classic detective book could be a bit slow for some listeners and storyline was a bit dark but I enjoyed it

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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